Editing History of the Netherlands (section)

===Doubts over archaeological divisions===
[[File:Willibrord e.jpg|thumb|[[Saint Willibrord]], [[Anglo-Saxon]] missionary from [[Northumberland]], Apostle to the Frisians, first bishop of Utrecht]]

In the 19th century, Dutch historians believed that the Franks, Frisians, and Saxons had populated and inhabited the Low Countries, but this theory fell out of favour in the 20th century.<ref name="Marnix Beyen 1850" /> Due to the scarcity of written sources, knowledge of this period depends to a large degree on the interpretation of archaeological data. The traditional view of a clear-cut division between Frisians in the north and coast, [[Franks]] in the south and [[Saxons]] in the east has proven historically problematic.<ref>Blok, D.P. (1974), ''De Franken in Nederland'', Bussum: Unieboek, 1974, pp. 36–38 on the uncertain identity of the Frisians in early Frankish sources; pp. 54–55 on the problems concerning "Saxon" as a tribal name.</ref><ref>van Eijnatten, J. and F. van Lieburg, ''Nederlandse religiegeschiedenis'' (Hilversum, 2006), pp. 42–43, on the uncertain identity of the "Frisians" in early Frankish sources.</ref><ref>de Nijs, T, E. Beukers and J. Bazelmans, ''Geschiedenis van Holland'' (Hilversum, 2003), pp. 31–33 on the fluctuating character of tribal and ethnic distinctions for the early Medieval period.</ref> Archeological evidence suggests dramatically different models for different regions, with demographic continuity for some parts of the country and depopulation and possible replacement in other parts, notably the coastal areas of Frisia and Holland.<ref>Blok (1974), pp. 117 ff.; de Nijs et al. (2003), pp. 30–33</ref>